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By Root 1339 0

happy to marry her without a penny, just for the pleasure of knowing she was his. When he eventually plucked up courage to ask for her hand, he found himself better off than he could ever have dreamed. Not only did Séverine become his wife, with a dowry of ten thousand francs, but the President, who by then had retired and was a member of the board of directors of the Western Railway Company, took Roubaud himself under his wing. On the day after his marriage he had been promoted to assistant stationmaster at Le Havre. This was due partly, no doubt, to the fact that he had a very respectable work record; he was reliable, punctual and honest, not particularly intelligent perhaps, but very practical — all very laudable qualities which might explain why his application had been so quickly approved and why he had made such rapid progress. But Roubaud was inclined to think that he owed his success entirely to his wife. He simply worshipped her.

He opened the tin of sardines. His patience was beginning to wear thin. They had agreed to meet at three o’clock. Where could she be? Surely she wasn’t going to tell him it took a whole day to buy a pair of boots and half a dozen blouses. As he walked back in front of the mirror, he caught sight of himself again, his eyebrows bristling, his face set in a harsh scowl. In Le Havre he never worried about what she might be up to. But here in Paris he found himself imagining her involved in all sorts of escapades, secret assignations and deceptions. The blood rushed to his head. He clenched his fists; they were hard and tough from the days when he used to work in the shunting yard pushing goods wagons around. Suddenly he had become a brute beast, an animal unaware of its own strength. He was so angry he could have beaten the life out of her.

Séverine popped her face round the door. The fresh air had brought the colour to her cheeks, and she looked full of the joys of spring.

‘Here I am,’ she said. ‘You must have thought I’d got lost.’

She was twenty-five years old, tall, slim and athletic. She was quite slightly built, but she had a good figure. At first glance she was not what you would call pretty; she had a long face and a rather large mouth, but beautiful shiny teeth. Yet she had an attractiveness all of her own — strangely appealing big blue eyes and thick dark hair.

Her husband made no answer; he stood looking at her with the uneasy, mistrustful expression which she knew only too well.

‘I’ve run all the way,’ she said. ‘There wasn’t a bus anywhere, and I didn’t want to have to pay for a cab, so I ran. Feel me; I’m all hot.’

‘Come off it,’ he said impatiently, ‘you can’t possibly have been in the Bon Marché12 all this time.’

Suddenly, like a child trying to get round her father, she flung her arms round his neck and placed her chubby little hand over his mouth.

‘Naughty, naughty!’ she said. ‘Stop being so grumpy. You know I love you.’

How could he have doubted her? She seemed so honest, so open, so trustworthy. He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. His suspicions invariably ended like this. Séverine yielded to his embrace; she liked it when he made a fuss of her. He smothered her with kisses, but she did not respond. This was something that had always vaguely disturbed him; she remained passive, like a big child. She loved him as a daughter might love her father, but never as his lover.

‘There can’t have been much left on the shelves by the time you’d finished,’ said Roubaud.

‘I’ll tell you what I’ve bought,’ said Séverine. ‘But first, let’s eat. I’m starving ... Oh, I nearly forgot. I’ve bought you a little present ... But you’ve got to say “please”.’

She held her face up to his, laughing. Her right hand was hidden in her pocket, holding something she didn’t want him to see.

‘Come on,’ she said, ‘you have to say “please”.’

Roubaud was laughing too; he loved it when she teased him like this.

‘I give in,’ he said. ‘Please.’

She had bought him a knife, to replace one that he had lost; he had been moaning about it for a fortnight. He was delighted. It was a beauty!